Lights, Camera, Conversation… “The slow death of a romance”

From watching David Lean movies on your laptop to watching a brand-new film on your TV set is, I suppose, just another step in the evolutionary ladder of cinema.

Before the announcement of the postponement of Viswaroopam, a message on my mobile phone said, with blithe disregard about the rules of language, “Watch Kamal Haasan movie VISHWAROOPAM in Tamil 1 day before theatre release on airtel digital TV at 9:30pm on 10-Jan.” It’s surreal. I think back to my growing-up-in-Chennai years when first-day tickets for a Kamal Haasan movie could be obtained only if you knew somebody who knew somebody who had a direct line to the Prime Minister. Or so it seemed. The fan clubs would hoard up all tickets, and as films were released only in a handful of theatres those days – four, maybe five – there weren’t all that many tickets to go around. Sometimes the chap who ironed our clothes – a fellow fan, who would fill me in on the box-office fate of this film and that one; I hardly stop to speak with him these days – would help with a ticket. Other times, there was no choice. You just had to wake up early and go stand in a long queue and hope you’d luck out in the black market.

And now this device in my hand was promising a brand-new Kamal Haasan movie a day before its release. In my house. And I won’t have to lift a finger. At least, apart from the ones I will use to punch in digits and initiate this miraculous transaction. People have been going back and forth about whether this is a good thing, the fact that a major film is being made available on television alongside its theatrical release, when even in the US, Hollywood follows this practice only with the small films, the niche films that are released only in big centres like New York and Los Angeles, and if you’re an indie-movie buff in Anycity, Kansas, where the local theatres will only play big movies with big stars, then this is how you get to watch these other films. Theatre owners are wondering how this can be good for business. At home, viewers have other worries. What if, during this one-time-only screening, there is a power cut? What if… What if… What if…

But my concern is less practical, more… I don’t know what to call it. And it’s this: if this business model succeeds, will some of us stop going to the movies altogether? It appears unthinkable, but the things we think we will never do are the things we take to doing as easily as breathing because that’s the only way forward. As a kid, I’d hate it if I walked in late and missed the censor certificate. “You’re not seeing the film in its entirety,” my inner OCD-afflicted nascent cinephile would wail. But I got over that. Then there was the time I wouldn’t watch a Hollywood film I really wanted to on a pirated print. I’d hold out for the day it would come on a big screen, if only the one at the USIS. Then there was the philosophy that a film had to be watched in one go, the way it’s meant to be, and not split up over viewing sessions lasting a few days. And once you grow up and life gets in the way of movie-watching, that’s almost always how you watch movies, in bits and pieces.

These are things I’ve gotten used to and don’t think about twice anymore – it’s ease over ethic. Movie halls are no longer temples where we worshipped stars and images, but hang-out joints that keep us distracted for a couple of hours. This is how the world works, and this is why we don’t see the David Lean movies being made anymore. Which director wants to set up camp in the deserts of Jordan, waiting patiently for the sun to cast just the right kind of shadow over the dunes, when audiences have only one eye invested in this spectacle, the other focused on the Twitter timeline on their smartphone? There’s no romance left about going to the movies any longer. To foster romance, you need distance, you need waiting and longing, and none of that is necessary when you have tickets for the film readily available the Monday after its release, because the rush rarely extends beyond the first weekend.

In this scenario, I suppose, the instant availability of a big-star movie like Viswaroopam is just another nail in the movie-going coffin, another twig tossed into cinema’s smouldering pyre. I no longer have to go and see Kamal Haasan. Kamal Haasan will come to my living room. (Actually, the TV set at home is elsewhere, but the line “Kamal Haasan will come to my bedroom” doesn’t sound quite right.) Of course, that’s still some time away, maybe years, maybe decades, but it will happen. And when this practice becomes the norm, who, I wonder, will go to the theatres anymore. The roads are going to become more clogged with traffic, the air more difficult to breathe, the tickets and snacks more expensive – who’s going to want to step out for a film when you can get it while lounging around at home with a bottle of beer? And I suspect this move will bring back those who stopped going to theatres because they already couldn’t handle the roads and the pollution and the prices. Is this is a new beginning for cinema or the end of movie-going? I really don’t know.

Lights, Camera, Conversation… is a weekly dose of cud-chewing over what Satyajit Ray called Our Films Their Films. An edited version of this piece can be found here.

You’re so right. Gone are the days when the whole experience of going to the movies was a thrill in itself. But given the low attention spans of audiences and the high clutter competition that movies faces from other entertainment “options”, this move was just waiting to happen. But even so, the theatre will still be the go-to place when a big-on-spectacle film like Avatar or Life of Pi happens. Perhaps that’s the writing on the wall for Indian movies as well?

i liked your concept and phrase and struggle over “ease over ethic”. for me, that ship has already sailed. i rarely go to the theatre, and watch in my bedroom (yes, i can say have kamal haasan in the bedroom and it won’t come out sounding strange) or on my laptop. but then, i am a notorious nodder-off in films. even films that i am predisposed to like.

This is perhaps the best piece I’ve read about the DTH release before the theatre one. I wasnt that much of a movie buff, but going to the cinema was a very big deal. Esp in the summer holidays, going in a kudhirai vandi to a ‘kottai’ where we got to see movies released months earlier in Chennai. I love my multiplex exp now cos its all very painless, very chi-chi. DTH promises even more ease and comfort. But will it ‘thrill’ me the way Balambiga talkies at Kulithalai did? I really dont know. Oh and btw, Kamal will have to pop into my bedroom too, as in a misguided moment, I okayed the TV there 😀

Call it misplaced nostalgia , but cinema is meant to be largescreened,interval with popcorn,the lights dimming as the screen comes alive, a disengaged audience or an audience for a vijay film (so much more entertaining to watch the ringside) but like those padams where the whole waiting looks like a fossilised museum piece, perhaps this is the sign ofthe times..but likeall movements,there will be a back lash..somewhere people still go to the movies and film festivals will flourish…we can choose the world we want to inhabit-ona palm top or on a supersized screen.Like love letters that are still written and not texted, this too shall survive..

Insightful. The way I look at it, whenever a new change happens, people resist it. But gradually, people evolve and adapt. Now there in lies the problem. I get a feeling people will stop going to the theaters.
But then again, we are talking about Urban India. The India which has emerged out of Pirate bays and torrents. The India which talks about Tarantino and Coens(though some of them are phony and fake).
I still feel the masses will go to the theaters. My idea of watching a movie is similar to yours. Just happened to see “Judgement at Nuremberg” last night and loved it to the core.
I would love to watch movies at home, it feels so quite and serene. I love to pause moments, look back at it , and then continue with the movie.
But then again, another guy would want to throw shredded papers in the air when he sees his demi-god. Dance in the isles as his hero dances in acrobatic fashion.
I guess both can co-exist. At least I hope it will.

This is good. I am all for this change – it cannot come fast enough for me.

Additionally, its not anything new , its simply a continuation of what is going on in other parts of the media. This is the beauty of the internet – whatever your niche you can find enough people to band together to form a club/group and join together. As an example , look at pr0n whatever your specific fetish you can find a site dedicated to it. (BTW, this is not just for the sake of it , pr0n has forever been the leader in terms of internet technology).

For me, movie going as a communal experience is only for certain types of films , a Enthiran , a Dabangg and a Rowdy Rathore is to be enjoyed in the theatre where i don’t really go for the movie but more for crowd watching. I could care less whats on the screen as long as there is enough noise, i am sufficiently intoxicated and there is some silly violence (Guna vs Thalapathi in Madurai). Simple pleasures of life for me.

Certain other movies need to be watched in the comfort of your house on a Projector or in theatres like this – http://drafthouse.com/ where mobiles are snatched away if switched on and patrons will complain if you so much as cough loudly.

But torrents/thiruttu vcd’s should have sufficed to lead to the fall of theatres, but they havent yet. In any case if this dth thing comes as the proverbial last straw and does it for the theatres(and that is a big IF), the only way they could have people plonked in front of the big screen would be by coming in terms with the so called ermm ‘discerning’ audience(or movie buffs or cinephiles or whatever the fuck) and finally begin screening old regional movies and/or world movies

But this applies to other aspects of life too, right? Why do people still go to museums? Why do people still go to sporting stadiums? The ontological pull is too much to resist. The experience of Kamal Haasan in your living room is one form of cinema. The experience of Kamal Haasan in a theatre (Dolby surround et all) is another form of cinema. You can enjoy both but it’s clear that one is an individual pursuit and the other a group activity. One has a personal touch, the other comes with a certain atmosphere. Your appreciation of a movie is varies in both and each has its share of romance.

And what is wrong with the audience checking the twitter timeline when a movie is on? That is also a form of enjoying a film. To engage with your followers on twitter with funny/insightful/random comments is a form of appreciation. To be distracted at a film is one form of watching it (just as to be distracted in a crowded cricket stadium is to experience a facet of the game you can’t get at home).

To some extent I agree that you need ‘waiting’ and ‘longing’ for romance. But technology only aids in the build-up. I think we have access to more sneak-peeks, trailers, teasers etc than we had before. The directors who use technology whet your appetite just enough. Instead of reading one line in the Hindu supplement (about the release of the next Mani Ratnam film, which was my vague ‘romantic’ memory of Anjali) I now have Youtube videos, blogs, twitter comments etc about Kadal. It’s a far more interesting build-up. It’s more involved and more intense. I am looking forward to Kadal more than I did for Anjali (even though I am not expecting it to be as memorable).

So romance works both ways. Ten years from now I will be nostalgizing (my word, not the dictionary’s) about ‘andha naal’ and feeling all disoriented about it. I hope I don’t. Because romance is something that one controls from within, rather than relying on external technological forces.

I wonder whether I would have appreciated the latest Batman as much at home as I did at the movie theatre. And I felt strange when there were cheers & whistles for Batman’s gadgets. If I had watched alone, I would have looked for the emotional content rather than the gadgets ( which were cool – but not as much as the theatre audience felt – after 30 years of action movies, gadgets dont thrill as much ). So the THEATRE experience does help. Now I can say the opposite for ‘Neethane En Ponvasantham’ where I thought the audience ( first day, night show ) had come to the wrong movie ( vijay fans ??? ) – so I would have enjoyed NEP more at home.

Baddy, your first para brought back memories. Back in those days, every Sunday, my uncle and I (still don’t know why my uncle chose to go with me rather then his son!) would hop onto his bullet and go to a morning show. There was this malligai poo seller by evening – black ticket seller by day lady near my house who was very helpful in getting us tickets. I remember seeing Punnagai Mannan, Kakki Chattai etc.

That said, already movie viewing is very prevalent in homes. Services like Netflix has hastened that move and its only studios that have staunchly resisted releasing movies earlier on TV. So, Kamal’s move can have many consequences. It may bring in additional revenue in the short term by extending the delivery channels for a new release but ultimately as you say, it may just shift user preferences. There is still more margins in a theatre release compared to online viewing so the shift in consumer behavior will be detrimental in the longer run. Online viewing can only be beneficial if the volumes are there which is questionable. Netflix is a good example. Their online business is much lower margins compared to their DVD business and they can make numbers only through volume. Even there, growth has been a huge issue.

For me personally, it’s about how long am I willing to wait to see a movie I really, really, really, want to see. Oscar Nominations have been announced and here in Malaysia, Lincoln, Argo, Silver Lining Playbook are yet to be released. Django blasts into screens only in March and as for flicks with controversial subject matters ( for a Muslim country anyway) like Zero Dark Thirty, fuhgeddaboutit. We just got lucky with Life Of Pi.

So, torrents has been a God-Sent for people like me, especially during Oscar Season when screener copies flood the net. And if possible, I’ll be embracing all tech that enables the quickest possible transition of a movie from it’s completion to my living room.

Add to the fact that my own pet peeves like wishing for a little Cinema Etiquette that’s rapidly going the way of the Dodo (you know those little little things like: “Hey Dickhead! How about sparing me the glow from your cell phone while you tweet your brilliant thoughts about Peter Jackson’s use of 48fps when the movie’s only been on for about 15 minutes? Hey “Too-Dumb-To-Breed” couple. So, you thought Tom Cruise punching a guy in the nuts would lull your 2 year old infant to sleep? Guess that didn’t work out huh, numbnuts? And fat lady to the right? Yup, I too think your running commentary was a perfect complement to what Irfan Khan was trying to tell Rafe Spall about the nature of God” ) means the ready availability of movies I want to see piped into my home is no bad thing.

After all, we live in an age of instant gratification. So…Instant Movie. GOOD!

If I want to experience the nostalgia of truly enjoying the viewing experience in a cinema, then I should pick one playing a movie that’s guaranteed to turn the masses away in droves.

I guess Vishwaroopam got the publicity it wanted after Kamal announced the DTH-release plan. Now it can collect more money in theatres than without this controversy 🙂

I really dont think the DTH-release will become successful considering the huge hold that distributors and theatre owners have on the producers. It is not a viable method and will not become successful for sure.

For all the guys who watch movies on laptop – good for you, I dont know how you enjoy it.

Wow what a caption.’The death of romance’ is so very appropriate.You have given words to my inner laments that too in excellent words.Reading this is like hugging someone close to you when you are pained.So fulfilling to know that people are movies by David Lean and greats like him.
It is so sad to see our passion,and romance dying in front of us.

“What if, during this one-time-only screening, there is a power cut? ”

The most practical worry, especially in interior Tamilnadu 🙂

Iam not sure if you got the latest update before you wrote this, that Kamal is postponing his DTH, leaving a bunch of pissed off customers who paid big bucks for it in advance for a Jan 10th release. If this were US, a couple of dozen people might have sued him already

KayKay: “torrents has been a God-Sent for people like me, especially during Oscar Season when screener copies flood the net” – I have no problems with torrents but screeners – surely the quality is sub-optimal , no ?

deeptrance: Do these big screen TVs work well in small rooms, given Indian flat construction? The other day someone was saying how they needed to sit really far away from the screen, otherwise they saw lines.

sidvee: This was more of a rose-tinted nostalgia piece than an actual argument, but happy to see your comment here. I’m a big fan of your writings. (But no, tweeting while watching a film does not enhance the experience IMO 🙂 )

Shankar: I’m sure “movie viewing is very prevalent in homes.” I’m talking about a probable future where yet-to-be released or just-released films are viewed at home. I’m sure a lot of people will love it, as they won’t have to do the whole theatre routine anymore.

Baddy, I did mean online movie watching in homes 🙂 And I do agree that the future is a little uncertain if direct to home becomes the new trend. A bunch of us will also lament the passing away of the romance you mention of going to the theatres.

I saw Dark Zero Thirty yesterday, an often gripping, grimy film. Given that it is based on true events, there’s not much to be surprised by the story. However, I felt audiences will relate better if they had been following the Osama hunt as it happened over the years. There’s not much that is overtly explained in terms of the techniques used by terrorists so a grounding with the overall content is certainly helpful. I was also glad that it wasn’t portrayed in a holier than thou fashion by shying away from the interrogation tactics. Obviously, the film is gaining a lot of goodwill in the US market and remains to be seen how it will be received internationally.

I wonder whether I would have appreciated the latest Batman as much at home as I did at the movie theatre. And I felt strange when there were cheers & whistles for Batman’s gadgets. – Actually, I heard cheers for the lines as well where I watched it. Anyway, yeah, watching it in a theater with an audience that seems to appreciate it as much as you do is a different experience. There were soft chuckles and smirks when I watched Tinker Tailor and guffaws for the first Robert Downey Sherlock; Dark Knight Rises got a standing ovation. On the subject of ‘rising’, rising ticket prices, though, could be that final nail in the coffin – especially if the Vishwaroopam model eventually works. That’s a long way off…I mean, we are talking about DTH here. But the kind of prices for which afternoon/evening show tickets go on weekends make my eyes bleed.

Enjoyed the article. I watched Sarfarosh with black tickets….damn, cannot even fathom feeling so desperate about watching a film now. If a lot of us are going to lose that urge to run to the nearest cinema for a film, the big screen may well bow down one day in the distant future. I have adapted to DVD and TV premiere long since even without DTH premiering before theater because I never attached a premium on FDFS.

Thanks for the kind words. I should probably write a post on tweeting-while-watching-a-film to extend this conversation 🙂 … Thoroughly enjoyed the book (Conversations …). Gave us some wonderful insights into the mind of Mani Ratnam and his story-telling process.

If the theater is available and it is a film I badly want to see, then theater experience comes first. There is nothing quite exhilarating as watching a film in the best theater possible, which for Chennaiites is only Sathyam Cinemas. I was incredibly pissed when Sathyam’s website acted up during my attempts to book tickets for The Dark Knight Rises. I was frustrated because I had to settle for second best in the form of AGS Cinemas, OMR where the sound effects sound like they are being played from underwater. I still stay wide awake into the wee hours on a Tuesday night refreshing Sathyam’s website in the hope that I get a ticket for the new release. So, the romance still lives on, but only amongst those of us who truly understand what the big-screen experience is all about, i.e. the cinephiles.

When my parents first heard that Vishwaroopam was available on Airtel DTH (which we have), they contemplated with the idea of coughing up the Rs. 1000 to watch it since my mom’s a bonafide Kamal fanatic. I stamped my foot on the ground and said, “No! That is not going to happen.” Eventually, I convinced them that the only way to experience this sort of a spectacle – which let’s face it, any Kamal Haasan movie is – is on the big screen. I’ll probably try to get them tickets during the second week as I know it’ll be very difficult for the first week.

But I can understand the reasoning behind this from a business standpoint. For huge families (of more than 5), watching it at home will be a lot more practical than paying more per person for the theater experience which, let’s face it, has been slowly deteriorating thanks to the number of dumb****s that visit the theater these days. I am totally with KayKay on that one. I have had to practically scream at parents who won’t shut their noisy kid up, at people who have loud ringtones and talk on the phone as if their life depended on it etc. etc. If you’re fed up with such kinds of people, then watching it within the comforts of your home is going to make a lot of sense.

I am also with KayKay that in the rush to watch a film before the Oscars, I do torrent some of the studio films before they hit the big-screen here. But if they’re worth watching and if I feel that I missed something in the home experience, I always make it a point to watch them in them in theaters when/if they get released.

So yeah, I think we will arrive at a reasonable middle-ground between the DTH and the film experience, as we have with any other format that has threatened the big screen’s superiority. Will the number of people going to theaters reduce in the digital age? Most definitely yes. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. In fact, I’d gladly roll out the red carpet for the digital age of DTH cinema if it means we can get rid of some of those dumb****s who frequent theaters these days.

It is hearting to see atleast few thoughtful & informed comments on this topics when most most people seem to go with the herd & whine about a hypothetical dealth of the romance of movie going ! One simple to put this ‘nostaligic romance’ to perspective is analogy with ‘going to telephone booth experience’ – I have had (& I am sure many of u have had) this 20 years back – it was indeed a ritual to talk to my Appatha (Granny) & Ayya (Granddad) over phone – we used to do it every Saturday – we will have to get over to the Telephone booth which was a 5 mins walk from home, my father will have ensured that he has reserved the booh for a time slot of 9:00 – 9:15 pm as otherwise we cant get to the phone so easily amidst the long queue – but still we may have to wait for about 10 mins for someone to finish over the call – Ah, the booth was meant to be soundproof except that the glass casing had a ‘1 cm’ gap in all directions and that the doors will not close fully – so, effectively the speaker communicates not only to his listener but also to a lot of other unsolicited listners who are waiting for their turn – but the problem for these listners is that they r not privy to what the person on the other end of the phone says, so it was an interesting game of sorts where each of them overworked their grey cells to conjure their own version of the story 🙂 ! Finally when we do get to speak, we had to go over the ritual of talking to the gracious neighbour (who had managed a phone connection ! in only 5 years) who will pass on the phone to my Ayya….When the phone gets to he Appatha she will be at the top of her voice – no amount of cajoling convinced her that her voice does not have to be very loud to travel & reach us via the phone !! And so on went this weekly ritual with its share of interesting things…

So, do i feel nostalgic about this ‘Going to Telephone booth’ ritual – yes i do – but am I happy to exchange my Galaxy Note-II for the creaky Telephone booth ????? ! Heck, NO. ONLY difference between the Telphone Booth Going & Movie Going rituals are that the Telephone booth is an exception today where the the Movie theater will continue to remain – Movie Theater provides an audio-visual experience that cannot be matched by a home theater, the Telephone booth does not do so !

I have liked a lot of Rangan’s commentaries, but this one leaves me bit dissapointed. DTH is just another mode of distribution – there is a LOT of movie watching (may not be movie going !) population who are happy to consume this celluloid magic within the safety & comfort of their homes ! People who relish movies in not-to-upmarket theaters by throwing shredded papers & shouting esctasically at thier demi-gods can & will continue to do so – People who relish movies is comfortable multiplexes sans the paraphernaila of demi-god rucks can & will continue to do so – People who relish movies is luxurious ultra-theaters (with auto massage seats) can & will continue to do so – finally people who relish movies in their small hometheaters pausing intermittently to attend to their children will as do so ! We have such a huge market – a huge section of the market was not served till now – now some one is attempting to unlock this market ! Welcome it with open arms 🙂 !

DTH is just another mode of distribution – there is a LOT of movie watching (may not
be movie going !) population who are happy to consume this celluloid magic
within the safety & comfort of their homes ! People who relish movies in
not-to-upmarket theaters by throwing shredded papers & shouting ecstatically
at their demi-gods can & will continue to do so – People who relish movies
is comfortable multiplexes sans the paraphernaila of demi-god ruckus can &
will continue to do so – People who relish movies is luxurious ultra-theaters
(with auto massage seats) can & will continue to do so – finally people who
relish movies in their small home theaters pausing intermittently to attend to
their children will as do so ! All these distribution channels can & will
co-exist – the audio-visual experience of a theater cannot be matched by the
home theaters! People who seek the pleasure of watching movies in huge screens
along with robust audio effects will continue to patronize the theaters. Even
if there is a hypothetical churn in the customer base where a portion of the
theater-going audience shift to home-viewing, that will not spell doom for
theater owners as A. Customer base in India is exceedingly huge to be impacted
and B. Even in the worst case business impact, the market will automatically
discover the right pricing equations – for eg the theater Owners/distributors
will force producers for a discounted price owing to reduced business, if at
all !

Now coming on to piracy – I am struggling to understand how DTH distribution will encourage
piracy. Some argue that it makes cam recording possible – Well, yes it does,
but who watches a the low quality Cam recording these days ? & even if
there is a market for Cam format then it can very well be done in Theaters ! On
the contratry this move will bring down piracy. As I said there is is a segment
of population who abhor theater going experience – they do like theather going due to one of
these reasons: they hate the swelling crowd or deafening noise or tickets are
not easy to get or they hate the long winding ride in traffic to get to the
theater. Lets face it, the major format in which this segment has been
consuming movies till now is ‘pirated DVDs which are near original quality
& is available for Rs 40/- a movie all over the city & state. Now, DTH
distribution will address this segment and pull back the piracy pilferage this
segment was causing till now.

Does it mean DTH distribution will end movie piracy ? Heck, no. There is no technology at the moment that can. But, DTH distribution will prevent a significant propotion of movie piracy
– it will bring back a segment of movie watchers who are willing to pay &
view moview in a fair means but have been unable to do so till now as they were
not happy with the only distribution channel (Theater) that was available till
now. Now, some one is attempting to tap this unserved segment – let us welcome
this attempt with open arms J